BATH

Among the many values-based concepts taught at Beth Israel Congregation’s Hebrew School, teachers examine Jewish values in an American political context.

In its after-school program, the Hebrew School offers pre-school through Bar/Bat Mitzvah education for Jewish youngsters. It’s a family-oriented endeavor, tied largely to the binding factor that is the Hebrew language.

But teachers at the Hebrew School also realize, as it states on the Beth Israel Congregation website, that “no curriculum can remain static.”

“We look at questions, such as how we choose our leaders,” Cantor Daniel Leeman said. “What are the characteristics of a leader? Studying Moses and his compassion for people suffering provides an example.”

Since 2002, the Hebrew School has been located at the Minnie Brown Center, named for the longtime Beth Israel member who made the bequest. Students from ages 3 through 12 gather there from 3:45 to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and Sundays.

The Hebrew School year begins on Wednesday, and runs through May 30.

Teachers hope to build character in their students.

“I feel that a supplemental Bible education following a secular school gives a child a more complete understanding of ethics and allows them to clarify their values and to understand their priorities,” Leeman said. “We want students to learn the importance of repairing the world through good deeds.”

Leeman works out of a small office at the Minnie Brown Center, located on Washington Street across from Patten Free Library. The former sanctuary on the first floor serves as a meeting space and social area. Just outside the meeting space, a glassed-in case contains a small Jewish gift shop.

The downstairs is set up with classrooms, and space for other functions. Prayers spelled out in large Hebrew print, on white paper, line one of the walls.

The Hebrew School has monthly “pre-K” for children ages 3 and 4. Kindergarten is for ages 5 and 6, “lower school” for ages 7 to 9 and “upper school” for ages 10 to 12.

“We teach the Hebrew language through the prayer book,” Leeman explained.

In the pre-K, that means primarily using songs of the Sabbath and Jewish holidays as instructional tools.

Kindergarten students learn the Hebrew alphabet, and early childhood prayers. Letters and vowels and the basic Hebrew vocabulary follow, in first grade. Children ages 7 to 9 are taught Bible stories.

When students at the Hebrew School advance to the upper school, they are taught values. There are units on famous Jews, such as Golda Meir and Albert Einstein. The older students learn about the Holocaust.

As cantor, Leeman uses the power of music and prayer.

“They learn the significance of the Bible, and about Jewish holidays,” he said. “Through the beauty of music we can bring them closer to making good choices in their lives.”

In about a month, students will enjoy learning about the Feast of Booths, or “Sukkot,” which is the Hebrew word that refers to the type of fragile dwellings the Israelites lived in during their 40 years of travel in the desert after their exodus from slavery in Egypt. The feast is intended as a reminiscence of that time.

Throughout the holiday, harvest meals are eaten inside the sukkot and many sleep there as well. Students will set up temporary shelters in back of the school, and in one family’s yard.

“It reminds them that bricks and mortar aren’t what protects us — that comes from God,” Leeman said.

¦ THE HEBREW SCHOOL has monthly “pre-K” for children ages 3 and 4. Kindergarten is for ages 5 and 6, “lower school” for ages 7 to 9 and “upper school” for ages 10 to 12.